1. Ask me what I saw with my own eyes,
If you wish to hear the tale of my wanderings.

2. We stayed in Mecca and congregated
Afterwards, in the mosque of the honest Prophet.

3. We met in Jeddah, then rode
The well of Zamzam, pride of every ship.

4. And I will recount to you what I saw,
Believe me in my words, or call me a liar.

5. Wherever he stayed, you would see
Hundreds of thousands around him.

6. Delegations of nobles from Egypt, Syria,
India, Maghreb and China.

7. And others who came to him, to gain
A conversation that comforts the grieving heart.

8. Then waiting for a gathering that drew near,
Its time precious indeed.

9. One begging gently, another
Roughly like a creditor to a debtor.

10. Another like a soldier,
Asking about distributing provisions.

11. A messenger from the king came to him,
Asking him to respond immediately.

12. And he, between this and that, you would see him
Smiling openly, with a clear brow.

13. Sending one joke after another, responding to all those affairs,
And he, for one who complained of his condition, consoling,

14. Comforting the poor and destitute.
Satisfying everyone, so that you would not see,

15. Anyone but grateful and obliged.
And at times he would quietly slip away from them,

16. As if wanting rest from the heaviness, like the approach of death.
But it fills his soul as he reckons,

17. That his soul is light as oxygen.
An hour with them cannot avail him,

18. As it emerges from his chest at every moment.
Perhaps it would rest a little,

19. That is my guess, though guesses may be wrong.
And in every gathering he would deliver,

20. A speech like hidden pearls.
In eloquence and in the sweetness of diction,

21. You would see people swaying like branches.
I almost forgot, the car dove

22. Among the dunes and the well of Al-Hussein.
In mountains of sand, though it dove

23. Yet there was no rider but a helper.
He gathered the pushers, exerting effort,

24. While the left did not avail over the right.
I almost forgot the visit to Al-Toor when

25. He visited us in Al-Toor, every cheek shone.
It was truly in Al-Toor, by God it was,

26. Like a prisoner visiting a prisoner.
From him we were like pearls around a full moon,

27. Yet this comparison does not suffice me.
He was to us like a bracelet on the wrist,

28. With which we circumambulated the mighty wall.
What is it to me to say curiously,

29. When this curiosity does not concern me?
Curiosity is like a sneeze, not intentional,

30. If it comes excuse me.